July 9, 1864: Plans to Destroy the CSS Albemarle-- Part 1

JULY 9TH, 1864:  In a confidential letter to Secretary Welles, Rear Admiral Lee disclosed the plans then being considered for an expedition to destroy the Confederate ram CSS Albemarle:  "I concur in Captain Smith's opinion that it would be inexpedient to fight the ram with our long double-enders in the narrow river [the Roanoke River].

"I proposed to Lieutenant Cushing a torpedo attack, either by means of the india-rubber boat heretofore applied for, which could be transported across the swamp across from Plymouth, or a light-draft, rifle-proof, swift steam barge, fitted with a torpedo."

--Old B-Runner